BERKELEY — Cal climbed back from an abysmal first half but couldn’t surmount CSU Bakersfield in a short-handed 73-66 loss in the first round of the NIT on Tuesday night.

Don Coleman’s 26 points led the (21-13) — who were without their top two scores, Ivan Rabb and Jabari Bird — and Grant Mullins added 10 points. Bird suffered a concussion in the Pac-12 tournament and Ivan Rabb was out with a reported foot injury.

Mullins hit a 3-pointer with 2:07 left that cut Cal’s deficit to eight points and the Bears got within six with 7.2 seconds left. But the eighth-seeded Roadrunners (23-9) held off the top-seeded Bears for the upset.

Dedrick Basile scored 16 points of his 18 points in a nearly flawless first half by Bakersfield, which is participating in its first NIT and will play at Colorado State in the second round. Brentwood product Shon Briggs had 17 points for the Roadrunners.

Bakersfield blitzed the Bears in the first half, making 8 of 13 3-pointers and shooting 50 percent overall to open a 44-19 lead. The Bears made just 4 of 24 shots from the field (17 percent).

Bakersfield’s last basket came on a 3-point play by Brent Wrapp with 4:23 to play that made it 63-47. But the Roadrunners made just 10 of 18 free throws after that — though they were 1 of 8 from distance in the second half and shot 30 percent.

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